The bones of a soldier with leprosy who may have died in battle have been found in a medieval Italian cemetery, along with skeletons of men who survived blows to the head with battle-axes and maces.

Studying ancient leprosy, which is caused by a bacterial infection, may help scientists figure out how the infectious disease evolved.

The find also reveals the warlike ways of the semi-nomadic people who lived in the area between the sixth and eighth centuries, said study researcher Mauro Rubini, an anthropologist at Foggia University in Italy. The war wounds, which showed evidence of surgical intervention, provide a peek into the medical capabilities of medieval inhabitants of Italy.

"They knew well the art of war and also the art of treating war wounds," Rubini told LiveScience.

Buried horses and bashed-in skulls

The cemetery of Campochiaro is near the central Italian town of Campobasso. Between the years 500 and 700, when the cemetery was in use, Rubini said, the area was under the control of the Lombards, a Germanic people who allied with the Avars, an ethnically diverse group of Mongols, Bulgars and Turks. No signs of a stable settlement have been found near Campochiaro, Rubini said, so the cemetery was likely used by a military outpost of Lombards and Avars, guarding against invasion from the Byzantine people to the south.

This article is a ridiculous perversion of history. A Lombard or an Avar was not likely to be "guarding against an invasion from the Byzantine people." The so-called Byzantine people were the Romans who lived in Italy until they were slaughtered or driven out by the barbaric Avars and Lombards.

They also identify the weapons which injured or killed these people as being a Byzantine mace or battle axe. Neither of these weapons were common to the Romans of the time who more often used the sword, javelin, bow, or throwing darts. A battle-axe injury immediately suggests the Franks to me.

Apparently the Lombards and Avars took a more tolerant approach, Rubini said, because this man, who died around age 50, was buried in the cemetery along with the other dead.

Tolerant Lombards. Sure, that makes perfect sense.

"The Avar society was very inflexible militarily, and in particular situations all are called to contribute to the cause of survival, healthy and sick," Rubini said. "Probably this individual was really a leper warrior who died in combat to defend his people against the Byzantinian soldiers."

Absolute hooey. More likely, the leper was killed by the Avars themselves.

This find dates from the period following the Byzantine re-conquest of Italy under the generals Belisarius and Narses, whose armies were made up of levies from a number of different ethnic groups ranging from Anatolians to Huns.

There were no Lombards or Avars resident in Italy during the time of the Roman reconquest in the early 6th century, except those who were used as mercenaries by the Romans themselves. The Ostrogoths ruled Italy at that time.

This article makes it sound like these brave Lombards and Avars were defending their homes from invading Byzantines when it is well-documented in the historical sources that the Lombards were the invaders and the Romans mostly took it on the chin--badly--to the point that the Lombards controlled nearly the entire peninsula by 700 AD.

The war mace, already used from the Late Roman Army at least since the 3rd century AD, composed by a wooden shaft and a metallic head, was transformed in the middle age of Byzantium as the favorite weapon of the heavy armed cavalryman, used with devastating effects on the battlefields.

I have never encountered a mention of Roman war maces in the documentary sources before the 7th century. Of course, axes are attested in pre-Byzantine Roman sources, but not as standard military issue from what I've seen. Based on the site you linked to, I have to assume they were still uncommon before the 7th century, though not non-existent. They seemed to be much more prevalent among the Germanic auxiliaries which would make sense.

I like the diversity in style in their implements of destruction. There is no reason that art and war should be mutually exclusive endeavors. But then the world has lost a lot in aesthetic appreciation across the board not just in armor and weaponry.

I like the diversity in style in their implements of destruction. There is no reason that art and war should be mutually exclusive endeavors. But then the world has lost a lot in aesthetic appreciation across the board not just in armor and weaponry.

That structure’s interesting because the roof is basically one giant stone, probably the largest ever used in construction in Italy, and maybe anywhere. The Romans quarried some single-piece 200 ton columns in Egypt and transported them by ship to Rome for some temples, that’s the only things that come close.

Oh, the Baalbek stones are much bigger than this, and technically they’ve *been* used in construction, but their original purpose remains unknown, and they’ve had stuff built on top of them, I mean, wth else are ya gonna do with ‘em?

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